They are the residents of the Metropolitan City of Milan the most “harassed” Irpef taxpayers in Italy. In 20221 they paid an average personal income tax of 8,527 euros to the treasury. They are followed by the Irpef subjects of Rome with 7,092, Monza-Brianza with 6,574, Bolzano with 6,472 and Bologna with 6,323. The least “harassed” in the country, however, are residents of Southern Sardinia a; again in 2022 the average Irpef paid to the tax authorities in the Sardinian province by each individual taxpayer was equal to 3,338 euros. The national average, however, stood at 5,381 euros. This is what the Cgia Research Office which has drawn up the ranking of the average Irpef amount paid to the treasury by Italian taxpayers divided by the 107 provinces in Italy. A figure, the Venetian artisans point out, that must be read carefully: “as stated in paragraph 2 of article 53 of the Constitution, our tax system is based on the criterion of progressivity. Therefore, the territories where the average Irpef levy is higher are also those where income levels are higher. It should also be noted that, presumably, where one pays more, the quality and quantity of services“The services provided by public administrations in these territories are often of a higher rank than those provided in other areas of the country where fewer taxes are paid”. In short, in Milan, Rome, Monza, Bolzano, Bologna, Parma, etc. it is true that the tax burden is higher, but this is attributable to the fact that in these provinces the concentration of wealthier taxpayers is greater than in the rest of the country. Furthermore, it is useful to remember that compared to the vast majority of other urban areas, these citizens pay more, but at the same time benefit from public services (health, school, transport, culture, leisure, etc.), which often have levels of quality not found elsewhere.
The Irpef taxpayers present in Italy are just over 42 million of which 23.3 million declare income from employment, 14.5 million declare pension income, 1.6 million are self-employed and 1.6 million have other income (rents, land, income from movable property, etc.). In 2022, the national average amount of Irpef paid to the tax authorities was 5,381 euros. The percentage of taxpayers who paid less than the national average stood at 69 percent. This means that in Italy almost 7 out of 10 Irpef taxpayers pay less than 5,381 euros per year.
The area that features the lowest percentage equal to 60 percent, is the Autonomous Province of Bolzano. Lazio follows with 63 percent, Lombardy with 64 percent, Valle d’Aosta with 66 percent and Emilia Romagna and Liguria both with 67 percent. The regions, however, where the rate of less well-off taxpayers is significantly higher are found in Calabria, where 78 percent of taxpayers pay less than the national average, in the Autonomous Province of Trento with 80 percent and in Marche with 84 percent. Also in 2022, the state coffers received 174.2 billion euros of net Irpef which, continues the Cgia, are “undersized” by at least 20 billion euros of Irpef deductions provided for by law (for medical expenses, school fees, passive interests on the mortgage for the first home, building bonuses, etc.). Furthermore, another 28 billion in deductible Irpef charges (social security contributions, supplementary pension contributions, medical expenses for disabilities, spousal allowance, etc.) contribute to reducing the tax burden, which reduce the overall income on which the corresponding Irpef rate is subsequently applied.
Between 107 Italian provinces monitored from Cgia, Rome has the highest number of Irpef taxpayers: 2.9 million people of which 1.7 million are employed workers, 904 thousand pensioners, 107 thousand self-employed workers and 64,300 subjects with income from participation. Milan follows with 2.4 million, Turin and Naples both with 1.6, Brescia with 927,100, Bari with 828,500, Bergamo with almost 823 thousand and Bologna with 796,700.
E in Europa?
Despite the tax burden having been decreasing in recent years, we continue to have a level of tax pressure among the highest in the EU. In 2023, in fact, only France, Belgium, Denmark and Austria recorded a higher tax burden than ours. While in Paris the tax burden was 45.8 percent of GDP, in Brussels it stood at 45.3 percent, in Copenhagen at 44.5 percent and in Vienna at 42.9 percent. In our country, however, it reached the threshold of 42.5 percent. Among the 27 EU countries, Italy “placed” itself in 5th place. Germany, on the other hand, was positioned in 10th place with a tax burden of 40.6 percent and Spain in 13th place with 37.8 percent. The average of European countries was 40.3 percent; 2.2 points less than the Italian average. According to the 2024 Economic and Financial Document, this year the tax burden is estimated at 42.1 percent of GDP, down 0.4 points compared to the threshold reached in 2023. This result is attributable to the fact that nominal GDP is expected to grow (+3.7 percent) faster than the increase in tax revenue (+2.6 percent). Therefore, the tax burden is expected to decrease. It should be remembered, in fact, that the same is given by the ratio between tax revenue and nominal GDP.
Revenue increase of 2.6 percent compared to 2023 depends on a number of factors: the first is linked to economic growth (about 1 percent in 2024); the second to wage growth, thanks to contract renewals, the payment of arrears in public employment and the increase in employment. More limited, however, is the impact on revenue attributable to the tax increases planned for this year, such as the higher taxation on tobacco, the increase in VAT on some products for children, feminine hygiene and the reopening of the terms for the revaluation and payment of the substitute tax on the revaluation of land and shareholdings. Finally, the measures that in 2024 have lightened the tax burden on Italians have certainly influenced the final result, such as the reduction of Irpef, through the elimination of the second income bracket (lower tax burden equal to approximately 4.2 billion euros) and the “bonus mamme”, with the exemption from contributions for employed workers with two children.